Sunday, July 31, 2016

7.5x7 watercolor on Canson XL 140 lb cold press paper done today for a timed WetCanvas event. Using one of 16 photo references provided by Helen in Michigan, participants had 2 hours to select and paint their choice. This was a window in Provence that I cropped from a larger picture. Using a #6 round brush only, no predrawing with pencil, it was done within an hour. I especially liked the striped awnings and red geraniums.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

In this work in progress step by step I am showing how to rework what I considered a failed painting into a mixed media landscape. It doesn't take too long to find a bad painting you want to improve upon and this one done in 2009 of a Victorian couple was no exception. After deciding to do trees the rest was obliterating the background, first with gouache to see how it would look, then filling in with various Montana acrylic markers. A black marker and Caran D'Ache watersoluble wax crayons were used last to accent and punch up the composition. Very little of the original is now visible except in left foreground and within the tree trunks, branches, and limbs.

Friday, July 29, 2016

5x8 watercolor and ink (Pigma Micron 01 pen) on paper sketched yesterday and painted today from seeing these Texas icons grazing in nearby grassland. This one with his black and white markings was exciting to do. When dry I splattered the same mixed black of alizarin crimson + thalo green for tinier spots on his hide.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Thursday, July 28, 2016

9x12 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done over last weekend while in New Mexico. The red tile roof of the house caught my eye; temp was 91 degrees and the sun beat down on the top of crepe myrtles, hollyhocks, and other plants. Its gate was a faded red as well. When dry I splattered periwinkle blue in the foreground.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook paper done over the weekend. As Texas state flower, the bluebonnet or lupine stands proud and tall in the state it calls home. In various hues of blue-purple and red-purple, the multifaceted plant can be seen as a sea of blue across the mid-state hill country in the spring.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, July 26, 2016

12x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done this afternoon in a vignette. Loosely painted, this guardian of the grasslands watches out for any other wild animal that might prey upon him. I saw this fellow last week when visiting my mother. Various native flora surround the jackrabbit enabling him to easily and quickly hide from predators such as the lowly coyote. These rabbits blend into the landscape and they are difficult to see until they move and catch your eye.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Monday, July 25, 2016

13.5x5 watercolor on 140 lb Saunders Waterford paper done today. Using a scrap from a failed painting I turned it over and sketched the rudbeckias, or blackeyed Susans, and bee for this quickie demo for class. Not sure what to do with the background I began at the top with a 1" flat sable brush and using Blue Bice and Periwinkle (American Journey brand sold by Cheap Joe's). As I went along I added blues thalo, ultramarine, and manganese and thalo green. Yellows: Aureolin, quinacridone gold, new gamboge, Halloween orange, quinacridone burnt orange. Dark centers are quin burnt orange, ultramarine, and indigo.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Saturday, July 23, 2016

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink line on paper, a close up macro view of such a tiny but important insect. With Pigma Micron 01 pen I sketched the bug's outline then filled in details followed by watercolor. I enjoy painting using complementary colored compositions such as red and green.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Friday, July 22, 2016

9x10.25 mixed media on paper from some of the Florida bird photos taken on the last trip in 2014. Using Pigma Micron 01 pen I sketched the bird's profile. Watercolor added next with white Montana marker used on its feathers. Background was dark blue purple marker overlaid with mixed gouache of blues, greens, and violets.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Thursday, July 21, 2016

7x10 mixed media work in progress finished that was done on back of a card sent to us for our anniversary. Round stencils with two types white acrylic paint were stamped over text and card heart design.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

7x10 ink on the back of an anniversary greeting card using Pigma Micron 01 pen. The colors in the polar bear are similar to the WetCanvas! reference we used in the Animal & Wildlife forum/courtesy Lin. Stay tuned for the mixed media piece that will be posted tomorrow when this work in progress is done.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, July 19, 2016

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook paper done the second weekend in the month in response to a WetCanvas! challenge. In this still life I loved the quirky bronze horse nestled against a white ceramic vase of bamboo; both reminded me of Eastern influences. The embroidered gold and white cloth they're setting on was a nice classy touch on a wooden table. This was done in about an hour.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Monday, July 18, 2016

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook paper done recently for our Watermedia monthly challenge on WetCanvas! where photos are posted and participants choose what they want to paint. Choices are then posted throughout the month. I love gingham as it reminds me of the country and simpler times.
(Photo courtesy Morguefile).
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Saturday, July 16, 2016

12x5 mixed media collage on gessoed matboard done today, part of my woman series. I began these figures in 2008 that you can see HEREand they quickly were snapped up.
With a charcoal pencil I lightly sketched the woman's shape then put in her dark hair also with charcoal. Diagonal lines of the buildings were next. Watercolor was the main media and collage provided the detailed pattern on the white dress. Her eyes were intentionally left out of the composition. Manganese blue is the sky. Some areas were lifted out and repainted which is easy on any support that has had gesso (white acrylic) applied.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.
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Friday, July 15, 2016

8.5x5.5 India inks/Micron 01 pen on Bienfang for mixed media sketchbook begun yesterday and finished today. These watermedia flowers could be poppies, roses, or tulips hence the posies title. I only used blue, yellow and red inks and mixed the green using blue and yellow. Not too bad for a 20 minute imaginary exercise.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Thursday, July 14, 2016

5.5x8.5 watercolor on paper done last week while in the mountains over a 2 day quick visit. This bird, a jay, is eating from a china cup and saucer birdfeeder someone made and I thought was very sweet.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, July 13, 2016

15x5.5 watercolor and black India ink on Saunders 300 lb cold press paper done today. With large splashes of quinacridone coral, transparent pyrrol orange, Grumbacher red, and alizarin crimson I made blobs that are pretending to be poppies with your imagination. A bit of ink line delineates petals, blooms, and stems and I accidentally sloshed some of it onto the background and it cannot be removed.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, July 12, 2016

10.25x9 watercolor and ink on paper done today from an older photograph I shot in downtown Big Spring. Using Lamy Safari pen and grey Noodler's ink I got the two doors centered then added windows, wood trim, then bricks. These doors face west and ground floor of the old building was an antique store with living quarters upstairs. Walls were painted a pale warm beige unlike the painting showing reddish brown, and no flower pots or plants exist. This same building houses Alberto's Crystal Cafe to its east side on 2nd Street.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Monday, July 11, 2016

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink on Masters sketch paper done over the weekend. Using a Uniball pen I drew another version of Annabelle "Belles", a field spaniel, commission. In this close up view, it was easy to see her long hair across her face and her warm brown eyes. This work is SOLD.Image is COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Sunday, July 10, 2016

7x5 watercolor field spaniel pet portrait commission WIP finished. Here the dark red and white dog is posing with her toys. I
added background color to our left, her right for better balance. This work goes with the previous posted two
spaniels Bessie and Belles, and is SOLD.Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Saturday, July 9, 2016

7x5 watercolor field spaniel pet portrait commission work in progress (WIP), and her name is D'arcy. Here the dark red and white dog is posing with her toys. I will add background color, etc. This work goes with the previous posted two spaniels Bessie and Belles, and is SOLD.Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Friday, July 8, 2016

7x5 watercolor on Daler Rowney Langton 140 lb cold press paper done over the weekend, another spaniel portrait to go with the first black and white dog. This dog is nicknamed Belles and she has a lovely reddish brown or auburn hair which looks chocolate brown if the light is not on it. This work is SOLD.Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Thursday, July 7, 2016

7x5 watercolor on Daler Rowney Langton 140 lb cold press paper, a field spaniel pet portrait commission finished recently. Her name is Bessie and her owner wanted a memorial painting done, so I tried to capture the sweet expression and her deep brown eyes.
This work is SOLD.Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, July 5, 2016

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper done last month as a commission. Based on an earlier sketch with a WetCanvas ref, this version of the ancient, tired truck is done in a vignette format, and is SOLD.Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Monday, July 4, 2016

15x11 watercolor depicting USA flag flying in a gentle mountain breeze. I took the reference photo at Alto Lakes, New Mexico at the Century 21 office. With a large pot of red geraniums this was painted in July 2010. Happy birthday America! God bless the United States!
Image COPYRIGHT 2010 Kay Smith.

Saturday, July 2, 2016

11x44 acrylics on wood panel featuring a country church surrounded by bluebonnets along the roadside. This was a commission so it is SOLD. The panel came out of a real country church where the customer's grandparents were married.Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith

Friday, July 1, 2016

12x9 watercolor on Canson XL 140 lb paper done this afternoon in under an hour. WetCanvas has a patriotic challenge for USA artists so since the bird is white its beak had to be indigo blue. Abstract background is a mix of thalo blue & green, alizarin crimson, ultramarine, Grumbacher red, and Blue Bice for the red, white & blue challenge. Participants have 2 hours to choose an image and paint or sketch it. When dry I did splatters with Blue Bice and Grumbacher red. Image courtesy Susan (tyree).
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Artist's Statement

"Working from dark to light provides me with immediate gratification seeing value comparisons. Whether I'm painting architectural subjects, animals, floral or still life, I am always looking for the darks first. By establishing these values early, I'm better able to judge the values that follow.

Since creating art is a solitary pursuit, I become absorbed and as one with the painting. Initial excitement usually drives me headlong into a sketching mode with or without value studies. Primarily I work from photographs.

I paint because I have to paint; I want to show you what I see. Viewing my works will be a revelation of who I am.